An equaliser 10 minutes from time by Toni Sanabria gave Barça’s Youth A team a draw in their opening NextGen series game against Anderlecht tonight.
STATISTICS
FC Barcelona, 1
Anderlecht, 1
FC Barcelona: Ondoa, Godswill (Cristian, 77’), Robert, Bagnack, Lucas, Samper, Adama, Quesada (Enguene, 70’), Sandro (Sanabria, 67’), Pol Calvet (Babunski, 70’) i Ebwelle.
Anderlecht: Roef Davy, Vervoort (Carvalho, 62’), Mbemba, Heylon, D’Alberto, Demdoncker, Diarra (Rivituso, 62’), De Bruyn (Kawaya, 77’), Kabasele, Praet i Bruno (Henen, 88’).
Goals: 0-1, Kabasele (66’), 1-1, Sanabria (80’)
Referee: Rafael Díaz Melero
Despite enjoying the lion’s share of the game’s chances, Jordi Vinyal’s Youth A team had to come from behind at the Mini Esatdi against Anderlecht tonight and they needed a late equaliser from Toni Sanabria to take a point from their opening Next Gen series match.
Domination, but no goals
Anderlecht had the first chance after just three minutes when Bruno caught Ondoa out with a shot from outside the box which hit the woodwork, but as the game settled down, it was the hosts who began to dominate and create the better opportunities. Barça’s first chance came on 11 minutes Nando Quesada rounded off a nice move with a shot that just went over and 10 minutes later, Sandro came close as he turned and shot from an Adama cross. Soon after, Ebwelle forced a good save from the Belgian keeper from a Lucas centre, as Barça upped the pace in search of an opener. Anderlecht had few chances themselves in the first half, but when they did get the ball forward, they certainly looked dangerous.
Visitors open their account
Sandro again came close after the break with a shot from the edge of the box and Adama Traoré, one of the most threatening Barça players on the night, was troubling the Anderlecht defence down the wing, but despite their domination, the hosts seemed to tire and on 66 minutes, Kabasele took advantage, finishing off a counter attack led by De Bruyn to give the visitors the lead. Vinyals threw on Toni Sanabira, Babunski and Enguene as he looked for the equaliser, but the team were finding it hard going until Sanabria was set up by Enguene to fire past the Anderlecht keeper. It could have been worse for the youngsters had Ondoa not come to the rescue two minutes from time after the ball was lost in midfield and Bruno broke free.